Today is the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows. Devotion to the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady has its roots in Sacred Scripture and in Christian piety, which always associates the Blessed Mother with her suffering Son. Today's feast was introduced by the Servites in order to intensify devotion to Our Lady's Sorrows. In 1817 Pius VII--suffering grievously in exile but finally liberated by Mary's intercession--extended the feast to the universal Church.